Foreign and Commonwealth Office

EU Action

Lord Pearson of Rannoch: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many EU proposals and initiatives, of which they are aware, are being delayed for publication until after 23 June, and what are those initiatives.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: Decisions on the timing of proposals for EU Laws and Directives are solely the responsibility of the European Commission. The European Parliament publishes details of current legislation under negotiation on its website.

North Korea: Politics and Government

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the allegations of violence by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s against its citizens, and its use of threats to the international community for the purpose of advancing its political cause.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea's (DPRK) arbitrary use of violence against its citizens, as documented in the UN Commission of Inquiry report, underlines the brutality of the regime and its lack of respect for basic human rights. The Government has made clear its concerns about the appalling human rights situation in North Korea, directly with the regime and in international fora, including at the UN General Assembly and the Human Rights Council.The DPRK’s flagrant violation of UN Security Council Resolutions and its continuing provocative behaviour is a clear threat to regional stability and international security. The UN Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2270 on 2 March 2016 in response to the DPRK’s nuclear test of 6 January and satellite launch, using ballistic technology, of 7 February. The EU has implemented additional measures.

Attorney General

British Home Stores: Sales

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have asked the Serious Fraud Office to investigate matters related to the sale and purchase of BHS.

Lord Keen of Elie: In all cases decisions to investigate are made by the Director of the Serious Fraud Office, who acts independently. In respect of BHS, the SFO has confirmed that it is reviewing material in its possession. If the Director considers there are reasonable grounds to suspect serious or complex fraud which meets his Statement of Principle, he will open a formal criminal investigation.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

EU External Trade

Viscount Waverley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many trade agreements are currently being negotiated by the EU, and with which countries.

Lord Price: The European Commission is actively negotiating seven bilateral trade and investment agreements. These are with the following countries: USA, Japan, Philippines, India, the Mercosur bloc, Morocco and Tunisia. The European Commission is negotiating bilateral investment agreements with Burma and China. In addition, the European Commission is also engaged in the negotiation of two “plurilateral” agreements on behalf of the EU: the Trade in Services Agreement and the Environmental Goods Agreement.

EU External Trade

Viscount Waverley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government which European trade agreements are awaiting ratification by the UK Parliament.

Lord Price: The EU-Southern Africa Economic Partnership Agreement and the EU-Central America Association Agreement are expected to be presented to Parliament in the near future. The EU has concluded negotiations with the following partners and, assuming that these agreements are approved in Council as being of “mixed competence”, each will need to be approved by Parliament: Canada, Ecuador, Singapore, Vietnam, Eastern Africa, and Western Africa.

Apprentices

Baroness Corston: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Baroness Evans of Bowes Park on 7 June (HL Deb, col 656), of the 499,900 apprenticeship starts as published in government statistics for 2014–15, what percentage met the definition of an apprenticeship of (1) being a job in a skilled occupation, (2) having substantial and sustained training lasting a minimum of 12 months, (3) leading to full competency in an occupation, and (4) developing transferable skills.

Baroness Corston: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Baroness Evans of Bowes Park on 7 June (HL Deb, col 656), of the 6,660 apprenticeship starts in the constituency of Richmond, Yorkshire, as published in government statistics for 2014–15, what percentage met the definition of an apprenticeship of (1) being a job in a skilled occupation, (2) having substantial and sustained training lasting a minimum of 12 months, (3) leading to full competency in an occupation, and (4) developing transferable skills.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: The Skills Funding Agency 2014 to 2015 funding rules set out the eligibility requirements for apprenticeships started in 2014/15. These include points (1) to (4). Only apprenticeships which adhere to this definition of an apprenticeship are recognised within these published statistics. On point (2), the statistics also include apprenticeships with an agreed planned duration of less than 12 months in exceptional circumstances, for example, for apprentices with prior qualifications that cover part of their framework.

Ministry of Justice

TDPi: Civil Servants

Lord Falconer of Thoroton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by the Minister for Policing, Fire and Criminal Justice and Victims on 6 June (HC38271), what they mean by "unlikely" and what chance there is that any intellectual property belonging to, or confidential information relating to, the Ministry of Justice or the National Offender Management Service was compromised as a result of former staff gaining employment with TDPi.

Lord Faulks: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 20 June 2016.The correct answer should have been:

As my Hon Friend, the Minister for Prisons, Probation and Rehabilitation announced on 14 March, we take these allegations of the type raised by the Mail on Sunday on 13 March extremely seriously and we launched an immediate investigation into them, which was conducted by a senior civil servant in the Cabinet Office's Proprietary and Ethics team. This investigation found no evidence of the Department’s intellectual property or confidential information being compromised as a result of staff leaving the Department to join TDPi. Neither did the investigation find any evidence of improper culture or general lack of professionalism in relation to how NOMS staff interact with suppliers or contractors.The MoJ has clear rules and governance in place around the standards of conduct for current and former civil servants. All permanent civil servants are covered by the Cabinet Office's Business Appointment Rules. For employees below the Senior Civil Service grade, the rules expect an ex-employee to submit an application form within a year of them leaving office if their circumstances match one or more of the points set out at Section 13 of the Business Appointment Rules. Following the investigation, we have briefed all Human Resources managers and all staff at Senior Civil Service in NOMS about the procedures. The process has been strengthened so that we now circulate the procedures to senior managers annually. As my Rt. Hon Friend the Minister for Policing, Fire and Criminal Justice and Victims said in his answer of 6 June (HC38271), over the last six months, we have improved our commercial capability, more than doubling the senior commercial experts monitoring work with the private sector.We have no plans to publish the letter to TDPi.

Lord Faulks: As my Hon Friend, the Minister for Prisons, Probation and Rehabilitation announced on 14 March, we take these allegations of the type raised by the Mail on Sunday on 13 March extremely seriously and we launched an immediate investigation into them, which was conducted by a senior civil servant in the Cabinet Office's Proprietary and Ethics team. This investigation found no evidence of the Department’s intellectual property or confidential information being compromised as a result of staff leaving the Department to join TDPi. Neither did the investigation find any evidence of improper culture or general lack of professionalism in relation to how NOMS staff interact with suppliers or contractors.The MoJ has clear rules and governance in place around the standards of conduct for current and former civil servants. All permanent civil servants are covered by the Cabinet Office's Business Appointment Rules. For employees below the Senior Civil Service grade, the rules expect an ex-employee to submit an application form within a year of them leaving office if their circumstances match one or more of the points set out at Section 13 of the Business Appointment Rules. Following the investigation, we have briefed all Human Resources managers and all staff at Senior Civil Service in NOMS about the procedures. The process has been strengthened so that we now circulate the procedures to senior managers annually. As my Rt. Hon Friend the Minister for Policing, Fire and Criminal Justice and Victims said in his answer of 6 June (HC38271), over the last six months, we have improved our commercial capability, more than doubling the senior commercial experts monitoring work with the private sector.We have no plans to publish the letter to TDPi.

TDPi: Civil Servants

Lord Falconer of Thoroton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by the Minister for Policing, Fire and Criminal Justice and Victims on 6 June (HC38271), how they have strengthened procedures as a result of this investigation.

Lord Faulks: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 20 June 2016.The correct answer should have been:

As my Hon Friend, the Minister for Prisons, Probation and Rehabilitation announced on 14 March, we take these allegations of the type raised by the Mail on Sunday on 13 March extremely seriously and we launched an immediate investigation into them, which was conducted by a senior civil servant in the Cabinet Office's Proprietary and Ethics team. This investigation found no evidence of the Department’s intellectual property or confidential information being compromised as a result of staff leaving the Department to join TDPi. Neither did the investigation find any evidence of improper culture or general lack of professionalism in relation to how NOMS staff interact with suppliers or contractors.The MoJ has clear rules and governance in place around the standards of conduct for current and former civil servants. All permanent civil servants are covered by the Cabinet Office's Business Appointment Rules. For employees below the Senior Civil Service grade, the rules expect an ex-employee to submit an application form within a year of them leaving office if their circumstances match one or more of the points set out at Section 13 of the Business Appointment Rules. Following the investigation, we have briefed all Human Resources managers and all staff at Senior Civil Service in NOMS about the procedures. The process has been strengthened so that we now circulate the procedures to senior managers annually. As my Rt. Hon Friend the Minister for Policing, Fire and Criminal Justice and Victims said in his answer of 6 June (HC38271), over the last six months, we have improved our commercial capability, more than doubling the senior commercial experts monitoring work with the private sector.We have no plans to publish the letter to TDPi.

Lord Faulks: As my Hon Friend, the Minister for Prisons, Probation and Rehabilitation announced on 14 March, we take these allegations of the type raised by the Mail on Sunday on 13 March extremely seriously and we launched an immediate investigation into them, which was conducted by a senior civil servant in the Cabinet Office's Proprietary and Ethics team. This investigation found no evidence of the Department’s intellectual property or confidential information being compromised as a result of staff leaving the Department to join TDPi. Neither did the investigation find any evidence of improper culture or general lack of professionalism in relation to how NOMS staff interact with suppliers or contractors.The MoJ has clear rules and governance in place around the standards of conduct for current and former civil servants. All permanent civil servants are covered by the Cabinet Office's Business Appointment Rules. For employees below the Senior Civil Service grade, the rules expect an ex-employee to submit an application form within a year of them leaving office if their circumstances match one or more of the points set out at Section 13 of the Business Appointment Rules. Following the investigation, we have briefed all Human Resources managers and all staff at Senior Civil Service in NOMS about the procedures. The process has been strengthened so that we now circulate the procedures to senior managers annually. As my Rt. Hon Friend the Minister for Policing, Fire and Criminal Justice and Victims said in his answer of 6 June (HC38271), over the last six months, we have improved our commercial capability, more than doubling the senior commercial experts monitoring work with the private sector.We have no plans to publish the letter to TDPi.

TDPi: Civil Servants

Lord Falconer of Thoroton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by the Minister for Policing, Fire and Criminal Justice and Victims on 6 June (HC38271), whether they will publish the letter to TDPi.

Lord Faulks: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 20 June 2016.The correct answer should have been:

As my Hon Friend, the Minister for Prisons, Probation and Rehabilitation announced on 14 March, we take these allegations of the type raised by the Mail on Sunday on 13 March extremely seriously and we launched an immediate investigation into them, which was conducted by a senior civil servant in the Cabinet Office's Proprietary and Ethics team. This investigation found no evidence of the Department’s intellectual property or confidential information being compromised as a result of staff leaving the Department to join TDPi. Neither did the investigation find any evidence of improper culture or general lack of professionalism in relation to how NOMS staff interact with suppliers or contractors.The MoJ has clear rules and governance in place around the standards of conduct for current and former civil servants. All permanent civil servants are covered by the Cabinet Office's Business Appointment Rules. For employees below the Senior Civil Service grade, the rules expect an ex-employee to submit an application form within a year of them leaving office if their circumstances match one or more of the points set out at Section 13 of the Business Appointment Rules. Following the investigation, we have briefed all Human Resources managers and all staff at Senior Civil Service in NOMS about the procedures. The process has been strengthened so that we now circulate the procedures to senior managers annually. As my Rt. Hon Friend the Minister for Policing, Fire and Criminal Justice and Victims said in his answer of 6 June (HC38271), over the last six months, we have improved our commercial capability, more than doubling the senior commercial experts monitoring work with the private sector.We have no plans to publish the letter to TDPi.

Lord Faulks: As my Hon Friend, the Minister for Prisons, Probation and Rehabilitation announced on 14 March, we take these allegations of the type raised by the Mail on Sunday on 13 March extremely seriously and we launched an immediate investigation into them, which was conducted by a senior civil servant in the Cabinet Office's Proprietary and Ethics team. This investigation found no evidence of the Department’s intellectual property or confidential information being compromised as a result of staff leaving the Department to join TDPi. Neither did the investigation find any evidence of improper culture or general lack of professionalism in relation to how NOMS staff interact with suppliers or contractors.The MoJ has clear rules and governance in place around the standards of conduct for current and former civil servants. All permanent civil servants are covered by the Cabinet Office's Business Appointment Rules. For employees below the Senior Civil Service grade, the rules expect an ex-employee to submit an application form within a year of them leaving office if their circumstances match one or more of the points set out at Section 13 of the Business Appointment Rules. Following the investigation, we have briefed all Human Resources managers and all staff at Senior Civil Service in NOMS about the procedures. The process has been strengthened so that we now circulate the procedures to senior managers annually. As my Rt. Hon Friend the Minister for Policing, Fire and Criminal Justice and Victims said in his answer of 6 June (HC38271), over the last six months, we have improved our commercial capability, more than doubling the senior commercial experts monitoring work with the private sector.We have no plans to publish the letter to TDPi.

TDPi: Civil Servants

Lord Falconer of Thoroton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by the Minister for Policing, Fire and Criminal Justice and Victims on 6 June (HC38271), what resources were allocated to, and who led, that review.

Lord Faulks: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 20 June 2016.The correct answer should have been:

As my Hon Friend, the Minister for Prisons, Probation and Rehabilitation announced on 14 March, we take these allegations of the type raised by the Mail on Sunday on 13 March extremely seriously and we launched an immediate investigation into them, which was conducted by a senior civil servant in the Cabinet Office's Proprietary and Ethics team. This investigation found no evidence of the Department’s intellectual property or confidential information being compromised as a result of staff leaving the Department to join TDPi. Neither did the investigation find any evidence of improper culture or general lack of professionalism in relation to how NOMS staff interact with suppliers or contractors.The MoJ has clear rules and governance in place around the standards of conduct for current and former civil servants. All permanent civil servants are covered by the Cabinet Office's Business Appointment Rules. For employees below the Senior Civil Service grade, the rules expect an ex-employee to submit an application form within a year of them leaving office if their circumstances match one or more of the points set out at Section 13 of the Business Appointment Rules. Following the investigation, we have briefed all Human Resources managers and all staff at Senior Civil Service in NOMS about the procedures. The process has been strengthened so that we now circulate the procedures to senior managers annually. As my Rt. Hon Friend the Minister for Policing, Fire and Criminal Justice and Victims said in his answer of 6 June (HC38271), over the last six months, we have improved our commercial capability, more than doubling the senior commercial experts monitoring work with the private sector.We have no plans to publish the letter to TDPi.

Lord Faulks: As my Hon Friend, the Minister for Prisons, Probation and Rehabilitation announced on 14 March, we take these allegations of the type raised by the Mail on Sunday on 13 March extremely seriously and we launched an immediate investigation into them, which was conducted by a senior civil servant in the Cabinet Office's Proprietary and Ethics team. This investigation found no evidence of the Department’s intellectual property or confidential information being compromised as a result of staff leaving the Department to join TDPi. Neither did the investigation find any evidence of improper culture or general lack of professionalism in relation to how NOMS staff interact with suppliers or contractors.The MoJ has clear rules and governance in place around the standards of conduct for current and former civil servants. All permanent civil servants are covered by the Cabinet Office's Business Appointment Rules. For employees below the Senior Civil Service grade, the rules expect an ex-employee to submit an application form within a year of them leaving office if their circumstances match one or more of the points set out at Section 13 of the Business Appointment Rules. Following the investigation, we have briefed all Human Resources managers and all staff at Senior Civil Service in NOMS about the procedures. The process has been strengthened so that we now circulate the procedures to senior managers annually. As my Rt. Hon Friend the Minister for Policing, Fire and Criminal Justice and Victims said in his answer of 6 June (HC38271), over the last six months, we have improved our commercial capability, more than doubling the senior commercial experts monitoring work with the private sector.We have no plans to publish the letter to TDPi.

TDPi: Civil Servants

Lord Falconer of Thoroton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by the Minister for Policing, Fire and Criminal Justice and Victims on 6 June (HC38271), what mechanism they have used to increase awareness of the Business Appointment Rules within the National Offender Management Service.

Lord Faulks: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 20 June 2016.The correct answer should have been:

As my Hon Friend, the Minister for Prisons, Probation and Rehabilitation announced on 14 March, we take these allegations of the type raised by the Mail on Sunday on 13 March extremely seriously and we launched an immediate investigation into them, which was conducted by a senior civil servant in the Cabinet Office's Proprietary and Ethics team. This investigation found no evidence of the Department’s intellectual property or confidential information being compromised as a result of staff leaving the Department to join TDPi. Neither did the investigation find any evidence of improper culture or general lack of professionalism in relation to how NOMS staff interact with suppliers or contractors.The MoJ has clear rules and governance in place around the standards of conduct for current and former civil servants. All permanent civil servants are covered by the Cabinet Office's Business Appointment Rules. For employees below the Senior Civil Service grade, the rules expect an ex-employee to submit an application form within a year of them leaving office if their circumstances match one or more of the points set out at Section 13 of the Business Appointment Rules. Following the investigation, we have briefed all Human Resources managers and all staff at Senior Civil Service in NOMS about the procedures. The process has been strengthened so that we now circulate the procedures to senior managers annually. As my Rt. Hon Friend the Minister for Policing, Fire and Criminal Justice and Victims said in his answer of 6 June (HC38271), over the last six months, we have improved our commercial capability, more than doubling the senior commercial experts monitoring work with the private sector.We have no plans to publish the letter to TDPi.

Lord Faulks: As my Hon Friend, the Minister for Prisons, Probation and Rehabilitation announced on 14 March, we take these allegations of the type raised by the Mail on Sunday on 13 March extremely seriously and we launched an immediate investigation into them, which was conducted by a senior civil servant in the Cabinet Office's Proprietary and Ethics team. This investigation found no evidence of the Department’s intellectual property or confidential information being compromised as a result of staff leaving the Department to join TDPi. Neither did the investigation find any evidence of improper culture or general lack of professionalism in relation to how NOMS staff interact with suppliers or contractors.The MoJ has clear rules and governance in place around the standards of conduct for current and former civil servants. All permanent civil servants are covered by the Cabinet Office's Business Appointment Rules. For employees below the Senior Civil Service grade, the rules expect an ex-employee to submit an application form within a year of them leaving office if their circumstances match one or more of the points set out at Section 13 of the Business Appointment Rules. Following the investigation, we have briefed all Human Resources managers and all staff at Senior Civil Service in NOMS about the procedures. The process has been strengthened so that we now circulate the procedures to senior managers annually. As my Rt. Hon Friend the Minister for Policing, Fire and Criminal Justice and Victims said in his answer of 6 June (HC38271), over the last six months, we have improved our commercial capability, more than doubling the senior commercial experts monitoring work with the private sector.We have no plans to publish the letter to TDPi.

Prisoners: Radicalism

The Lord Bishop of Rochester: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they are having with prison chaplains, including those of Muslim and Christian faith, to address concerns about radicalisation and extremism in prisons.

Lord Faulks: Prison staff regularly discuss issues relating to radicalisation and extremism with prison chaplains of all faiths, both at a local and regional level. Prisoners who are identified as holding extremist views or being vulnerable to radicalisation are managed through a range of interventions to tackle and disrupt extremist behaviour.Last year the Justice Secretary commissioned A review of extremism in prisons As we have made clear, the report has been received and a summary document will be published in due course.

Female Genital Mutilation Protection Orders

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether current female genital mutilation protection orders contain information on girls' country of origin and nationality.

Lord Faulks: An application for an FGM protection order may include information in relation to the country of origin or nationality of the person to be protected if it is relevant to the application. This information would not necessarily be included in every application or order granted.

Ministry of Defence

Yemen: Military Intervention

The Marquess of Lothian: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what conclusions they have reached following their investigations into the allegations that British-made cluster munitions have been used by Saudi Arabia during the conflict in Yemen.

Earl Howe: We are aware of reports, including from Amnesty International on 6 June, of the alleged use of cluster munitions in the Saudi-led Coalition campaign in Yemen. The Government takes such allegations very seriously. We are analysing the case and seeking clarification from the Saudi-led Coalition.We have raised this issue with the Saudi Arabian authorities and, in line with our obligations under the Convention on Cluster Munitions, we continue to encourage Saudi Arabia, as a non-party to the Convention, to accede to it. The UK last provided cluster munitions to Saudi Arabia nearly 30 years ago; the final delivery was in 1989.

Department for Work and Pensions

Attendance Allowance: Pensioners

Baroness King of Bow: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many pensioners received Attendance Allowance in (1) London, and (2) the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, in each year since 2012, broken down between (a) the higher, and (b) the lower, rate.

Baroness Altmann: The numbers of claimants receiving higher or lower rate Attendance Allowance in (1) London and (2) the London Borough of Tower Hamlets are detailed below:   Nov - 2012Nov - 2013Nov - 2014Nov - 2015London Total138,710133,470131,930130,760Higher80,69078,51078,79079,800Lower58,05054,95053,12051,000Tower Hamlets Total3,4203,3103,3803,460Higher2,0302,0202,1002,200Lower1,3801,2901,2901,260Source: DWP Tab Tool (Cases in Payment)Note: Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10. Figures may not sum due to rounding.

Attendance Allowance

Baroness King of Bow: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they will publish details of their plans to devolve responsibility for Attendance Allowance to local authorities.

Baroness Altmann: The Government has announced that by the end of the Parliament local government will retain 100% of local business rates and new responsibilities will be devolved alongside this. As part of this, the government will consider giving councils in England more responsibility to support older people with care needs. Any change would not affect existing Attendance Allowance claimants, and any new responsibilities would be matched by the transfer of equivalent spending power. The Government intends to consult on this in due course.

HM Treasury

Public Sector: Borrowing

Lord Empey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether any requests have been received from the devolved administrations to raise their borrowing limits; and if so, what increases were requested, when such requests were made, and whether any have been agreed to.

Lord O'Neill of Gatley: Treasury Ministers are in regular contact with Devolved Administration Ministers on a variety of matters. Each of the Devolved Administrations has a range of capital and resource borrowing powers set out in legislation. In addition to these, the Stormont House Agreement provided flexibility to use £700m of capital borrowing to fund a voluntary exit scheme over a period of 4 years with £200m in 2015-16, £200m in 2016-17, £200m in 2017-18 and £100m in 2018-19 as well as up to an additional £350m borrowing for infrastructure projects with a profile over four years with £100m in 2015-16, £100m in 2016-17, £100m in 2017-18 and £50m in 2018-19. The Fresh Start Agreement and Implementation Plan provided assurances that the NI Executive could access the full amount of additional borrowing provided by the Stormont House Agreement even if it is able to realise agreed efficiency savings from Voluntary Exit Scheme without switching the full amount of existing borrowing for that purpose. The Government is working closely with the Northern Ireland Executive to implement the Fresh Start Agreement. In response to a specific request from the Welsh Government, the Government has provided early access to the capital borrowing powers in the Wales Act 2014 in order to support the delivery of the M4 relief road. Again, the Government is working closely with the Welsh Government on this matter.

Cabinet Office

Acts

Lord Lexden: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bridges of Headley on 6 June (HL132), how many sections of, and Schedules to, Acts passed since 2010 have yet to be commenced because ministers have not made a relevant commencement order.

Baroness Evans of Bowes Park: The Cabinet Office does not keep a central record of when each section and Schedule is commenced, but do monitor progress in implementing key policy commitments across the Government's programme. It is Government policy to only legislate where legislation is required to deliver a policy.

Charitable Donations: Occupied Territories

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they will take with the Charity Commission to prevent UK charitable giving to Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Baroness Evans of Bowes Park: The Charity Commission for England and Wales is the independent registrar and regulator of charities and is not subject to Ministerial direction or control.The Charity Commission publishes safer giving advice for members of the public to ensure their generous donations support legitimate charitable activities. The advice includes checking that the organisation is a registered charity and verifying further information on the Register of Charities. Any evidence of a registered charity funding illegal activities should be reported to the independent regulator as a matter of priority.

History: Publications

Lord Lexden: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to continue the Official History Programme; and if so, how.

Baroness Evans of Bowes Park: I refer the Noble Lord to the statement given by my Noble Friend Lord Gardiner of Kimble on 10 December 2015.

Legislation: Parliamentary Scrutiny

Lord Lisvane: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many of the measures announced in the Queen's Speech will be published in draft and subject to pre-legislative scrutiny.

Baroness Evans of Bowes Park: The Government is committed to facilitating pre-legislative scrutiny when it is possible to do so. In the last session five draft Bills or packages of draft legislation were published. Announcements will be made in due course about draft legislation to be published in the current session.

Electoral Register

Lord Beecham: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the fact that four million people have been added to the electoral register in recent months, whether they will publish details of the comparison between the final register for the EU referendum and that as at December 2015, and if so when.

Baroness Evans of Bowes Park: The Electoral Commission will publish the total electorate for the EU referendum in due course.